First came White Castle’s Impossible slider, which Eater NY’s Ryan Sutton hailed as “one of America’s best fast-food burgers” in 2018. That slider just happened to be meatless, containing an Impossible Foods-branded patty made from soy protein, potato protein, coconut oil, sunflower oil, and heme, the ingredient that gives the burger the taste, aroma, and “bleed” of a juicy beef patty. Then, the floodgates opened: In January, Carl’s Jr. became the largest American fast-food chain to offer plant-based patties made by Beyond Meat in 1,100 locations nationwide; just a few months later, Burger King, Del Taco, and the fast-casual chain Qdoba have followed suit with fake-meat offerings of their own, from Whoppers to tacos to burrito bowls.

But conspicuously missing from the growing list of fast-food chains offering plant-based “meats” produced by brands like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat is McDonald’s, the biggest quick-service chain in the U.S.

Del Taco wasn’t the only one to take notice of the lack of Golden Arches among the mock-meat herd. Following Burger King’s announcement that the brand is testing Impossible meatless burgers in St. Louis (with potential for a national rollout), a Change.org petition urging McDonald’s to add “a healthy, meatless option” has regained traction, even getting the endorsement of Ellen DeGeneres (ranking somewhere between British children going viral and midwestern moms dancing on TV). “McDonald’s is being left behind by its biggest rival — who is demonstrating that a national fast-food chain must cater to a new generation of consumers by offering a healthy and tasty meat-free burger,” wrote the petition’s creator, vegan author Kathy Freston.

Freston and the 165,000+ petition signers needn’t worry. At this point, it seems like a foregone conclusion that McDonald’s will eventually start offering meatless burgers in the U.S.

Fast food is a natural fit for test-tube “meat”

The most obvious use case for lab-optimized “meat” is to replace the lab-optimized meat commonly used in fast food, as New York Times opinion writer Jamelle Bouie tweeted earlier this week.

That’s all to say no one’s expecting superior-grade meat when cruising through the drive-through at 1 a.m. Plant-based “meat” like Impossible’s — Frankensteined from soy protein concentrate and other ingredients — won’t make much of a difference to the point that most consumers might not even notice. As Tim Carman at the Washington Post proclaimed, Burger King’s Impossible Whopper patty “has more flavor than the meaty one.”

The age of the meatless burger is upon us, we just don’t realize it yet

McDonald’s domestic traffic struggles notwithstanding, there’s no denying that the chain still reigns supreme, with enviable sales growth and a ubiquitous overseas presence (more than 36,000 restaurants worldwide, according to the company). But more than that, the burger chain remains an American icon, those familiar twin golden arches an emblem of global capitalism, unfettered consumerism, and the United States itself. (Look closely and you might notice Richard and Maurice McDonald’s faces carved into Mount Rushmore beneath Roosevelt.)

When reached for comment, McDonald’s, Impossible Foods, and Beyond Meat all declined to confirm or deny if a partnership is in the works, but Lucy Brady, McDonald’s senior vice president of corporate strategy, revealed at Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in December that “plant-based protein is something we’re keeping our eye on.” (McDonald’s, mind you, already offers a McVegan burger in Sweden and Finland.)

A non-answer, but no matter: Whatever McDonald’s mouthpieces might be willing to say out loud now are nearly beside the point anyway, since the question is no longer if, it’s when.

Eater.com

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